The women are dressed similarly, wearing hats, their heads facing toward each other as if they are walking together. The cover accompanies a fictional piece Brown authored which imagines how Di's life might have turned out had she not died in a 1997 car crash in Paris. Another couple of photos inside in the magazine are eye-catching. They are of Diana and the daughter-in-law she never knew wearing similar red dresses.

The issue is pegged to what would have been Diana's 50th birthday on Friday.

Here's a sampling of Brown's take on Diana in 2011: "Gliding sleekly into her 40s, her romantic taste would have moved to men of power over boys of play."

Diana would have had a Facebook page with millions of followers and named "Bridget Jones' Diary" as one of her favorite movies. She would have lived in a New York City loft and been married at least twice to men on both sides of the Atlantic. She would have enjoyed front-row seating next to Victoria Beckham during New York's Fashion Week, owned an iPhone andÂ been totally devoted to philanthropic causes when not doting on sons Harry and William.

Many have found the digital manipulation of Diana and Brown's imagining of the princess' future revolting.

"You took a woman who has been dead for 14 years and made up an entire story about what she would look like, where she would be living (the Big Apple of course!), what she would be doing (apparently lots of Botox!), and perhaps most importantly, what she would be wearing (Galliano - the anti-Semite - and J.Crew a la Michelle Obama!) ... if she were still alive today," Cafemom wrote. "This is pure brilliance. I've never understood why a magazine called Newsweek would waste its time having reporters write about current events or world affairs when it could simply make up stuff."

The British Brown, new to the helm at the news magazine, formerly edited the New Yorker and founded the Daily Beast. She is well-known for her observations about British politics and culture, as well as American culture.

"I wanted to make her a time traveler," she said, adding that she viewed Diana as a "global, mover shaker kind of woman."

"She loved the limelight but she would have professionalized all that humanitarian giving," Brown said. "She would have been very much a woman of our time."

The Newsweek package isn't without straight reporting. The magazine highlights causes Diana championed by tracking how much good they've done after her death.

And the magazine isn't the only media outlet pondering what Diana would have been like at 50. The U.K.'s Daily Express newspaper also published a digitally aged image of Diana's face. It also is not the first magazine to attempt a fictionalized story about a famous and beloved life cut short. In April 2008, Esquire magazine imagined, in narrative form, what actor Heath Ledger's last few days alive might have been like. Ledger died of an accidental drug overdose that year. The magazine's editor at the time insisted the piece was neither stunt nor gimmick.

soundoff(653 Responses)

kyle

Nothing but a bunch of snobs, the Royal wedding was the biggest boar ever and waste of air. The spoiled brats never work a day in their lives and have everything handed to them. Not jealous just don't understand the hype with all of it.

A low-class publicity stunt. Bad enough Diana was hounded by "journalists" when she was alive, but leave her in peace already! I've a new-found distaste for Newsweek. I'll look elsewhere for actual news.

1. Tina Brown did not know, does not know, and couldn't time-travel enough TO KNOW what Diana would have thought or doing (I certainly don't see her as being so immersed into US culture that she would have MOVED to NY; this only would have been a boon for Brown). 2. "Ghoulish" was an apt description on how how the image of Diana was used; like beauty, it's in the eyes of the beholder. The U.S. is not the bastion of political/social correctness. 3. This cover has sunk the reputation of Newsweek.

Are we sure Tina Brown really liked Diana? Seems like this is the second time she has analized her friend boldy...and make her look bad. Diana would never dress like a frump. She woud not wear such a dress.
Diana would not be eighty. She would be fifty. Even I looked better at fifty. Diana worked hard to stay fit. She would still have energy radiance and bloom.
Now with the ghoulish behind us. I – don't tell anyone – find myself thinking in the last weeks how Diana would have adored her daughter-in-law, how proud she would have been of her son as he protected his wife from the crowds and gently guided her thru the path of media How proud she would be of him and the way he handles his royal role.I think of Diana watching with delight and immense approval – except for Charles and Camilla. Thank God she was spared that. But as a mother and a former royalshe would understand and approve with gusto!

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